Thursday, September 18, 2014

Government Shelling Of Civilian Areas In Iraq Continues Despite Premier Abadi’s Pledge Not To

On September 13, 2014 new Prime Minister Haider Abadi
ordered the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) to stop
the shelling of civilian populations in urban areas. This had been an on
going complaint by civilians, politicians and human rights groups with hundreds
of people having been killed and wounded by artillery, mortar and missile
strikes in several different provinces. Despite the announcement there have
been three days straight of civilian casualties in Anbar due to government
shelling.

The ISF has been hitting civilian areas for months now. The
insurgent uprising in Anbar started at the very end of December 2013. Within a
few days there were the first reports of civilian casualties in the province’s
cities due to ISF shelling and bombing. January
3 6 were killed and 87 wounded by mortar fire on eastern Fallujah. The next
day the city was hit by air strikes,
mortar
and artillery fire resulting in 47 people being injured. At the same time,
ISF mortars hit Ramadi
killing one and wounding 7. By the end of the month 85 people were dead and 446
wounded in Anbar by what became more and more indiscriminate fire. This was
a leading
cause for mass
displacement within the governorate. Since then these types of attacks occur almost every day in the province. When the militant summer offensive began
these government strikes were expanded to Ninewa, Salahaddin, Diyala and
Kirkuk. Sunni politicians and human rights groups have complained about these
attacks for the huge human costs. Militarily the shelling and bombardment have
had no visible affect upon the insurgency. The vast majority of incidents appeared
to be simply firing into insurgent held territory with little regard for who or
what is hit.

Premier Abadi’s order to the ISF was an attempt to appease
the Sunni population and politicians, but it has not been followed through
with. From September 15 to 17 there has been daily shelling of Fallujah. September
15 6 people died and 22 were wounded. September
16 another 4 were killed and 21 injured, followed by 3 fatalities and 20
wounded the
next day. The new prime minister knows that he has to win over disaffected
Sunnis if he hopes to turn around the security situation. His announcement
about shelling civilian areas therefore, was an early concession to show that
his government would not be the same as the previous one. Unfortunately the
Iraqi forces have not gotten the order.

A concession is only a concession if it is followed through
with. Premier Abadi’s order to stop hitting civilian populations was a
necessary one. There is no military value gained from the tactic, and the costs
have been huge. The ISF however has not stopped the shelling of Fallujah. The
fact that this happened three days straight pointed to this not being some kind
of mistake. The ISF also denied hitting Fallujah hospital the day after Abadi’s
pledge showing that they know about his pronouncement. This is not a good start
to the new Iraqi government as the prime minister has so many challenges in
front of him with seemingly so little time to achieve them. As commander and
chief he has the authority to stop the practice of targeting civilian areas meaning
his announcement was just for show, it has not gotten through the chain of
command or he’s not being followed. It would seem that the premier’s words were
for propaganda purposes. That needs to change if Abadi is going to make any
kind of mark in the country.

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About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com